Lessons from the Times Square Dud

On the Sunday talk-show circuit, Napolitano voiced her belief that the Times Square dud was a "one-off" event -- which some conservatives interpreted as Napolitano once again dismissing the incident as the work of a "lone wolf."

Au contraire, a Homeland Security official assured Foreign Policy magazine's The Cable blog, Napolitano was "referencing that at that time, there was no evidence to suggest that there were other trucks parked with explosives in other parts of New York or other cities across the country. Law enforcement expects that kind of threat assessment from us."

But how could she know that there were no other attacks planned the day before authorities pulled Shahzad off a Dubai-bound plane? It is impossible to take her seriously.